Fallen From Grace
by Ceillean
Summary: On a mission gone wrong, Jedi Master Durron is taken over by an ancient alien entity, whose only objective is to live. It's up to Durron's friends and the woman he loves to free him of the alien being and clean up the mess left behind..
1. Chapter 1

Thumb hovering above the activation switch of his lightsaber, Kyp Durron crouched behind a tall, thick tree with narrowed green eyes, staring out into the open black night. The full moon up ahead bathed the scenery in a soft white hue, just enough to make out the silhouettes of a pack of fierce looking wolves on the prowl in the distance, blocking the path that led to the ship.

Jaina Solo stood a few feet behind him and Kyp gestured for her to stay back while he carefully stepped into the wide open meadow, instantly catching the wolves' attention. Dozens of golden eyes turned his way as his boots crunched on the soil. Baring pointy white fangs and growling in warning, the wolves silently moved into attack position.

Kyp sat down cross legged on the cold ground and lifted his eyes to the dark sky above. Seconds ticked by and stretched into what seemed like an eternity while he did absolutely nothing. But then there was a ripple in the Force, a stone thrown into the infinite sea of living energy. Kyp summoned the Force around himself, like an impenetrable bubble and he pulled at it until it seemed so tight it was difficult to move at all. He sent out feelers with his mind, tendrils of raw energy doing his bidding.

He could feel the animals' minds, their consciousness, their single need to sate the hunger in their bellies. Kyp planted simple suggestions into their minds, willing them to move away to find a better hunting ground. He waited several moments and then frowned into the dark as he realized –

"It's not working." Jaina said, placing a hand on the butt of her lightsaber. "I really don't want to have to cut them down."

Leaves rustled behind her. Jaina cast a quick look over her shoulder and scowled at the little girl that approached them. Her skirt hiked up above her knees, amber curls bouncing around slender shoulders and bright blue eyes blazing with curiosity, little Tavia stood on her toes to get a better look at what the two Jedi were doing.

"I told you to stay at the fire." Jaina hissed at her, jerking a finger back the way the girl had come.

"And I told you that I want to see what you're up to."

"Tavia –"

"Shut up!" Kyp hollered. "Both of you."

Something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones, a cold dread in the pit of his stomach. The wolves should have obeyed. They should have been long gone by now, searching the wilderness and forgetting that three humans were theirs for the taking.

Theoretically.

"We've got a problem." Kyp said, slowly getting to his feet and taking a step back. There was thick, heavy darkness around them, a scent of evil permeating the air. "Someone is controlling the wolves."

"I feel it." Jaina unhooked her lightsaber from her weapons belt while she looked down at Tavia. The little girl jerked her chin upwards, defiance glowing fiercely in her eyes. "I'm not leaving." She said before Jaina even had a chance to utter a single word.

"You see those animals?" She raised her voice as she gestured to the wolves slowly circling the meadow, ready to attack at a moments' notice. "We're food to them, Tavia. You need to stay back and let us –"

"No!" Tavia stomped her foot on the ground. "I'm not going anywhere. And you can't make me!"

Kyp took a deep breath and wondered not for the first time how they'd let themselves get caught up in this situation in the first place. They didn't have the time to discuss their next course of action with a ten year old spoiled little girl.

"Just watch me." Jaina spat. "I'll tie you to the damned tree if I have to." She made her point by slapping her palm against a nearby tree trunk. "We promised to keep you safe, remember?"

Jaina got down on her knees in front of the little girl. She laid her lightsaber aside and took the girls' small, delicate hands into hers. The gentleness in her voice surprised even Kyp. "I don't want you to get hurt, Tavia. And this is a bad place we're in right now. You need to trust us. You need to trust _me_. I won't let anything happen to you."

Her defiance melted away, Kyp noted with a lift of his brow. "I'm afraid." Tavia whispered. "I don't want to be alone."

"Let us take care of this." Jaina said, gathering up her lightsaber and getting to her feet. "And then we'll get you home as soon as we can."

"Jaina!" Kyp turned back to the wolves, their growls growing louder the closer they got. "They'll follow us no matter where we go. They're natural born hunters. And they'll go for the weakest link first."

"I know." Jaina said hastily, grabbing Tavia's hand.

"Do _not_ run." Kyp warned, facing off with the lead wolf. Its eyes glowed amber gold and it slowly approached, white fangs dripping saliva. It would only take them a few seconds more before they attacked, all at once together as one, their sole objective to kill the intruders. It wasn't instinct controlling the beasts. It was something else entirely.

From behind him, Kyp heard hushed whispers as Jaina made sure Tavia was safely settled within the sheltering branches of one of the tall trees. She returned to Kyp's side a moment later. "How're we doing this?"

"The hard way, of course."

"Why'd I even ask?"

As if they sensed their readiness, the wolves attacked as one. Jaina and Kyp activated their lightsabers simultaneously, amethyst blades coming to life with a sharp snap-hiss. Together they built up a Force barrier of pure energy, shoving the animals back. Those who chose to jump crashed against it. With the power of his mind, Kyp hurled the closest wolves through the air, wincing as he heard a howl from the dark and a sickening crunch.

"Behind you!" Jaina called out. Kyp pivoted around just in time to come face to face with a set of teeth that could have easily taken off his hand. He slammed the hilt of his lightsaber into the animals' head, satisfied as the wolf lay still at his feet, still breathing.

"You okay up there?" Kyp yelled, lifting his head with a reassuring smile on his face.

Tavia glanced down from her hiding place. "Can't you hurry up?" She asked. "It's getting pretty cold up here, you know."

Kyp had no time to comment. Jaina gave a shout through the Force and back to back, she and Kyp fought off the growling pack of wolves. They used the Force to stun the animals, to shove them back, to make them change their minds and direct their appetite somewhere else. It wasn't working as well as they'd hoped. Only once did Kyp have to use his blade as one of the beasts nearly clamped its jaw around Jaina's ankle.

"Thanks." Jaina said, flustered and a bit pale. She turned back to the matter at hand only to realize that the wolves were suddenly retreating back towards the meadow into the dark.

She shut off his lightsaber and frowned. "I don't get it." She said quietly, her gaze following the animals as they disappeared.

"Whoever controlled these animals is a very powerful individual." Kyp could still feel the residual energy of another Force user somewhere in the vicinity, hidden from his eyes but not from his senses.

"I guessed as much." Jaina's frown deepened. "But why? Why go to all this trouble –"

She stopped and a gust of cold wind sang between the trees. Jaina felt the jolt of shock through the Force, the abject horror of what had truly happened.

"Tavia!" Kyp called, running back to the tree where the little girl had been perched. She was no longer there. "Tavia!" He called out again, turning a full circle. "_Tavia_!" His voice echoed between the trees but he received no answer.

Eyes burning with anger, Kyp turned to face Jaina. "It was a distraction. All of it only a distraction."

"To get to Tavia." Jaina concluded quietly, that feeling in the pit of her stomach growing heavier by the second.

"I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to her." Jaina said. "I broke my promise."

"Jaina, you couldn't have known –"

She held up his hand, a gesture for Kyp to quiet down. The young Jedi Knight glanced up into the sky, a carpet of black space speckled with golden stars. "They knew we'd be here." She said quietly. "They were waiting for us."

"We've been betrayed."

"Seems so." Jaina sighed and ran her hand through wavy auburn hair. "Kyp –"

"Whoever did this…they want war." He locked gazes with Jaina and the young woman was taken aback by the anger creeping onto the Jedi Masters' face. "Fine. Then they damned well got one."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been an easy task to infiltrate the mind of the animals. So simple as instincts ruled their every move and thoughts. He had decided to make them hungry. The hunger ate at them, governed them until it was all their little brains knew.

And while the Jedi fought them off, wielding their colorful swords, he'd swooped in and stolen the girl from right beneath their noses.

His Master would be proud.

He glanced across his shoulder where the girl lay nestled in the backseat of his hover car, sleeping silently due to a sleeping trance he had bestowed upon her. She was utterly beautiful, just like her mother. The same golden hair, touched by the rays of the sun itself; if her eyes fluttered open, he knew he'd see pale blue irises staring back at him. He wondered briefly whether her eyes would be filled with contempt or with love for the man who'd saved her from the clutches of those who would see her talents destroyed.

"Tavia. My dear, sweet Tavia." He whispered quietly, turning back to the path ahead. It wouldn't take him long to reach the island where his Master was waiting. His destiny was waiting and with Tavia's help it wouldn't be long now.

And no one, absolutely no one, would stand in the way.

* * *

The grand silver doors with their intricate patterns of symbols parted with a quiet hiss. Jedi Master Durron strode across the threshold, black cape billowing behind him as he hastily made his way down the brightly lit corridor towards the throne room. He knew the family would be there waiting for them, wanting to hear reassurances that everything was going to be fine and that the situation was under control.

He wasn't going to lie to them.

"We need to think this through, Kyp." Jaina said at his side. She gave him a somber look. "Try to be considerate. Their daughter –"

"Is in the hands of the enemy because of _them_." Kyp stopped and jerked a finger down the empty corridor. Glossy round pillars supported the vaulted ceiling from which glow spheres dangled to light the way. Shadows danced along the walls, twisted and frightening shapes moving with the slight movements of the glow spheres above. "They betrayed us, Jaina."

"Do you honestly think the girls' family would do such a thing?"

"Someone told –"

"Kyp, you need to calm down." Jaina said with a hard voice and equally hard eyes. He incensed, understandably so, but it would do neither of them any good if he didn't control his temper.

"No!" Kyp bellowed, the single word echoing off the walls and carrying further down the empty corridor. "I will _not_ calm down." It had always been difficult for Kyp to keep his anger in check. The slightest little thing could set off a chain reaction and he would act before thinking. It had taken time but eventually, and with the help of his friends, he'd taken care of this fault. But sometimes his anger was almost too much to bear. His rage took control like a monster hiding in the closet, waiting to be set free.

"She's ten years old." Kyp said quietly. "And she's in danger because one of them, one of those _cowards_, gave up our location. Tell me that doesn't bother you in the slightest."

"Of course it bothers me." Jaina hissed. She placed a hand on the older man's shoulder and gently squeezed. "Think on this, though. What good will it do if we accuse them of betrayal without even a shred of evidence?"

"I have all the evidence I need, Jaina." Kyp shrugged his hand away and shook his head. "This…this _game_…ends now."

He spun on his heel, heavy boots thundering on the milky white tiles. He heard Jaina following, heard her heave a sigh. Kyp sensed the young Jedi's unease and he truly couldn't blame her. But Kyp had had enough of the lies and the deceit. He needed answers. And so he would get them.

The doors to the throne room parted without a sound as they approached. A fireplace to the left was lit with golden flames, the warmth tickling his skin as he neared the family seated at an oval table in the center of the chamber. The throne, a towering edifice of white wood and stone, stood empty at the rear of the throne room, a long violet carpet leading from an artists' masterpiece to where Kyp now stood staring at the ruling family of the district.

"Master Jedi." Ruler Qui Adri pushed his heavy chair from the table and turned to face Kyp with a deep frown on his wrinkled forehead. "Is it true? Has Tavia been taken?" His voice cracked. Kyp noticed unshed tears glistening in his eyes. His wife, the Lady Keera, stepped to his side and laid a hand on her husbands' chest. Anticipation hung like a heavy cloud above them. Kyp saw the questions in their eyes, sensed their hope and despair. He breathed it in, tasted their emotions on his tongue, an acrid taste in the back of his throat.

"Yes." Kyp said as he moistened his lips and clasped his hands behind his back. He let his eyes wander from the Rulers' serene yet distraught face to the features of his grief stricken wife. Her tears were silent but her pain was like a blaster shot to the gut for an empathetic individual such as Kyp.

It was the eldest son who didn't move at all.

Kyp tilted his head to the side, eying the young man with slightly narrowed eyes. He was in his early twenties, a tall and athletic boy with tousled blond hair who was to someday inherit the throne when Ruler Qui Adri was no more. The coldness radiating forth from the boy was…unnatural.

"Yavessk." Jaina said quietly from behind Kyp, addressing the young man. "Your sister has been taken from us."

"Yes." The boy said. "I am not deaf." His voice was dead, a toneless row of words.

"You already knew, didn't you?" Kyp pointed a finger at the young man, biting back a vile curse. "You knew all along."

Yavessk met Kyp's heated stare with hatred that the Jedi had somehow missed. The young boy smiled slowly, the smile of a person who had nothing more to lose. "Of course I knew." He said quietly.

His mother, still standing in the protective embrace of her husband, gasped loudly and lifted delicate fingers to the curve of her red lips. "What are you saying, Yavessk?"

Her son threw his head back and laughed. Gone was the quiet young boy, replaced by a maniac who was slowly shedding his skin. His Force aura rocketed into a reddish hue, a definite sign that he had long surpassed the anger and grief his parents endured. "I am saying that I took matters into my own hands. Tavia is a Force sensitive human being. She is the first in four generations and you hid her."

"For her own good, of course. Her powers –"

"Are extraordinary, yes." Yavessk continued, turning his head to stare into the crackling flames within the fireplace. "And you would have her talent wasted with the Jedi when Lucan could just as well –"

"Silence!" Ruler Qui Adri called. The Jedi were quiet, alternating their gazes between the three family members. "You shall never utter that name is this house again."

Lady Keera swallowed. "Could it possibly be?" She asked aloud. "Has that mad man taken our daughter?"

It was Kyp who drew their attention suddenly. With an inhuman sounding growl, the Jedi Master launched himself on the young man. A heavy hand clutched around the boy's skinny throat, Kyp pushed him against the nearest wall. His voice was a deadly whisper as he leaned forward. "Look at me."

Kyp ignored Jaina's call for him to stop, he ignored Lady Keera's cry for him to let her son go. He wouldn't, not until he knew all he needed to know. "Look at me." He repeated. When Yavessk didn't respond, he grabbed the boys' chin in his free hand, jerking his head around. "Tell me where she is."

"I will tell you nothing." Yavessk spat.

Kyp narrowed his eyes. "Yes. You will. One way or the other."

He probed the boy's mind, tendrils of Force energy snaking forward with cold fingers. There was no resistance at all as Kyp jumped into his memories, taking what he needed to find the girl. But there was something odd about the boys' thoughts, something lurking inside his mind. Kyp followed it, sensing the darkness, wanting to quench it right then and there and set this boy free. He saw images of an island shaped like a heart, he saw a man with glowing eyes laughing and he saw Tavia, who trusted her brother above all else.

"You've betrayed your sister." Kyp hissed, digging deeper with the Force. Yavessk screamed. Kyp felt Jaina's hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. But Kyp held on a moment longer, grabbing onto the darkness, hearing its whispered words and tugging at it. Inch after inch, he held on to the dark – until Jaina shoved him away and severed the link. Kyp stared at the boy in open contempt.

"Have you lost your mind?" Jaina yelled.

"A heart shaped island." Kyp breathed quietly, ignoring Jaina, watching as Yavessk fell to the floor, dazed and confused. Lady Keera was at his side in an instant. Kyp felt Ruler Qui Adri's dark stare on him but he didn't care. He couldn't, not when Tavia's life was at stake. "Where is it?"

Qui Adri swallowed. "The Northern Sea."

"She's being held there."

"How do you know?"

"Because your son showed me. He's been working with Lucan for quite some time now. Who is he?"

The air about Ruler Qui Adri changed to defeat. "He used to be my right hand. Lucan was a wonderful person. Until he went mad."

"How?" Jaina inquired quietly, staring blaster bolts at the Jedi Master.

"He just snapped. He began talking about the dark ages, about some prophecy. He was utterly mad."

"He's not mad!" Yavessk yelled, shaking his head with a grin on his youthful, sweaty face. "I saw it. I saw all of it. He's coming. And we're all going to die." Yavessk pushed himself back to his feet and met his fathers' gaze head on.

Ruler Qui Adri approached with a raised hand but he stilled himself. "Not another word."

"Or what, father?" The boy spat. "You'll send me away like you did Lucan? Because you can't bear to hear the truth?"

"There is no truth to be heard! Empty words spoken by a mad man!"

"He's coming, father." Yavessk said. "He's coming."

"Who is?" Jaina asked, looking from Yavessk back to Kyp. He could feel her eyes on him and he sensed that she'd surpassed being angry with him.

"The Master." Yavessk laughed but his mirth was short lived as Ruler Qui Adri stepped forward and backhanded his eldest child.

"There will no more of this, is that clear?"

"The Master will approach quietly and no one will realize that he's here until it's too late. We are all his servants and we will do as he wishes for it is our destiny to bow before the eldest creature of our time."

Ruler Qui Adri's face turned pale. Seconds passed in utter silence but his loud, heavy bellow could have woken the dead. "Enough!" He snapped his fingers and hidden behind the throne, out of sight for the common man, two guards appeared wearing dark red armor and carrying staffs they used as weapons. Wordlessly, these two heavy man grabbed Yavessk's arms and dragged him from the throne room.

The boy didn't make a sound. But his mother wailed, all the desperation she felt ensconced in one single scream as she watched her boy disappear behind the throne through the hidden chamber. Ruler Qui Adri held Lady Keera, her cries muffled against his strong chest.

Kyp felt sick to his stomach. He held on to the back of one of the chairs and steadied himself, gripping the soft, slick material until his knuckles whitened. They'd promised that little girl that they wouldn't let anything happen to her and now she was trapped with a crazy person. Whatever this Lucan character wanted, he thought he'd found it in Tavia. If he was also a Force user, a crazy Force user, then the Gods only knew what kind of damage he could do.

"We'll find her." Jaina said, her tone reassuring but as she turned to look at Kyp, the Jedi Master still sensed the shock at what Kyp had done to Yavessk. "And then we'll put an end to this."


	3. Chapter 3

On the other side of the galaxy, tucked within the folds of a thick, soft blanket, Eliziya awoke from yet another nightmare. She sat up in bed, panting, gasping for air. Light from the adjacent fresher pooling into her bedroom set her at ease but barely so. Safe behind the walls of her home Eliziya knew she had nothing to fear but these ghastly nightmares seemed so very real. It was uncanny because even now, after the veil of dreams began to lift, she still heard the screams of the damned, their agony so profound it made her shiver. It wasn't the worst, though. Neither were the images of destruction and mayhem. No, it was the voice, the narrator of this intense darkness, the voice that belonged to the one she loved that scared her above all else.

Sweeping short strands of dark hair from her face, Eliziya swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She needed self control to calm herself as her heart beat in an uneven rhythm but she couldn't conjure up the strength. Pearls of sweat ran a path down the center of her chest, her lungs pumping out air while she sucked it back in with a slight gasp.

Eliziya got to her feet and stumbled into the fresher. She made it just in time, emptying the contents of her stomach into the bowl until dry heaves left her numb and spent. When it was finally over, when her muscles spasmed as if an electrical current ran through her body, she slid to the cold floor and lay there for however long it took for her mind to find its way back into the here and now.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time, my dear Jedi?" Eliziya whispered into the darkness. There would be no answer, not even if she repeatedly commed him because they hadn't been on speaking terms for quite some time now. She doubted that he would listen to her, not after the way their last meeting had ended. But Eliziya knew deep in her heart that, whatever it took, she had to warn him.

Something was coming for him, something ultimately evil and dark and it would devour him alive.

* * *

Jaina could hardly believe what he'd just witnessed. She stalked after Kyp, boots crunching on small pebbles that littered the path, and called out his name just when he was about to jump into the nearest speeder on the palace grounds. He ignored her, hitting the activation module. The speeder lifted into the air a few centimeters, humming softly, waiting.

"Are you coming?" He called out above the noise.

"What is the matter with you?" Jaina jumped in beside him, pinning him with an icy glare. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"I did what I had to do." The nav computer came online and he tapped in the coordinates he'd received from Ruler Qui Adri. The small screen lit up and gave an affirmative beep as it finished calculating the route.

"You forcefully took what wasn't yours to have." Jaina balled her hands into fists, laying them in her lap rather than using them on his face. "You violated –"

"He wouldn't have told us, Jaina. You know that just as well as I do."

"That still doesn't give you the right to take what isn't yours." She spat at him, turning her head to look through the window as the speeder lifted higher into the air and sped forward. The palace grounds were quickly left behind and in the dark all Jaina could see were trees covered by a thick blackness. There were lights from the village beyond the palace, oblivious townsfolk having a late meal or entertaining themselves in the tavern or laying comfortably in their beds. They had no clue about the evil that lurked in this place, the evil that seemed to change those who had a good heart. Jaina looked at her long time friend and swallowed. "You're better than this, Kyp."

He scoffed. "Am I?" Then he sighed, shaking his tousled dark head. "Let's just get the job done and go home."

She glanced back down to her hands in her lap, running a finger along her chipped and dirty nails. She was going to have to report this to Master Skywalker. Force…was Kyp slipping? Or was it just a one-time occurrence because, just like Jaina, he was at the end of his rope? She couldn't even put into words how worried she suddenly was.

"Kyp." She said quietly. "I can't let this go."

He nodded once. "I'm aware of that." His voice was low and it seemed that he didn't even care. Just another entry on his record, another stone set in the winding path of his own destruction.

She didn't want to believe that her long time friend was walking a dangerous path towards the dark again. She refused to acknowledge this as a possibility. There had to be something else going on.

"Kyp."

"We have a mission, Jaina." He said curtly in a no-nonsense tone, hands gripping the steering yoke.

As she glanced through the window again, a horrible feeling settled into the pit of her stomach. The darkness, the evil all around them, hiding in shadows…had it gotten to Kyp without either of them realizing it?

* * *

_It has been set in motion._

Lucan nodded, staring into the flames. The heat kissed his scarred features and lapped at the long stick he used to prod the fire. "Yes, Master." Beside him, rolled together like a babe tucked away inside its mothers' womb, Tavia lay sleeping soundly. Lucan had bound her hands together just to be safe and he'd dribbled a few drops of potion down her throat so that she wouldn't be able to use her gift to summon help. Or worse, fight him. After all, he didn't want to harm her. She was much too pretty to be scarred.

_You shall keep the girl here. They must see her._

Lucan swallowed. "My Master, forgive my insolence but is this course of action wise? They are powerful Jedi. They will grab the girl and run."

He felt his Masters' laughter, the cool and misty wind finding its way through the maze of trees surrounding the camp. It made a shiver run along Lucan's slightly crooked spine.

_You will see to it that they will not._

Lucan blinked. "How?" He asked, his voice just above a whisper. The thought of facing the Jedi on his own made his hands tremble. He couldn't possibly. It would mean certain death.

_The dagger. Use it. Make the male bleed. That is all you must do._

"And what of the girl. My Master?"

_She will have served her purpose._

Lucan didn't want Tavia to die. Precious, beautiful little Tavia, the only good thing Ruler Qui Adri could ever hope to create. She was such a lovely person and –

_She will have served her purpose._ The Masters' voice was a command in his head, a command not easily ignored. _Her fate lies beyond the stars. It is not your concern._

Lucan nodded. "Yes. Master."


	4. Chapter 4

There was that knock again. It turned into a pounding a moment later, just like the ache spreading throughout her entire body. Eliziya tried to ignore it, humming a stupid children's song that popped into her head from nowhere to block out the noise.

"You okay in there?" Nikk called from the other side of her bedroom. Force, why the hell did that man have to be so damned attentive? His room was on the other side of the appartment and he still sensed her distress. Eliziya just wasn't in the mood to get into it with him, certainly not about a dream...vision...whatever the kriff was messing with her head.

"Go away." She called, crawling out of the fresher. On the carpeted floor, she turned onto her back and stared up to a black ceiling. The vision had creeped the shit out of her. She'd seen a whole lot of darkness throughout the years but this shit here was beyond crazy. People dying and screaming, a crazy man laughing while another stood by and whispered ugly things in a way that reminded her of a lover. And Force...that voice...Kyp's voice.

"Stop messing around, Liz." Nikk raised his voice and slammed his palm against the door. "Open the damned door before I kriffing kick it in."

"Are you wearing shoes?" She asked.

"What?" She knew he was frowning, pulling his brows down low which made him look a bit comical. Not a laughing matter at the moment, though. "No. Why?"

"Then go ahead, sweetheart. Kick down the door." Too tired to even care, too spent and numb to attempt any kind of movement, Eliziya listened as Nikk overrode the security code. The door opened quietly and as he stepped over the threshold, the lights came on.

Hissing a dirty curse underneath her breath, she squeezed her eyes shut. "Dumbass. What do you want?"

"Why are you lying on the floor?" Nikk shuffled towards her with bare feet and she knew if she opened her eyes, she'd see a whole lot of half naked Nikk. In the middle of the night, he'd be wearing his sleeping pants. Not that she was going to complain, of course. The man was a looker for sure. "You fall and hit your head or something like that?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

She blinked her eyes open and wiped away a few stray tears. Nikk slid down the wall beside her and his big feet were all up in her face all of a sudden. But she didn't care. She still felt sick, her nerves were a mess and that vision wasn't going to let her go any time soon.

"What's wrong, Liz?" Nikk's deep voice was like a life line, a hook tethered to reality. She held on to it as tightly as she possibly could. "You lost your last meal, didn't you?" He wrinkled his nose. "I can smell it."

"Charming, Nikk. So very, very charming."

"See, here's the thing." He reached out for her hand and she was grateful for the warmth. It chased away the ice left behind by the dream because she didn't want to accept the fact that whatever she'd seen could be real. "I was asleep. I was having this great dream about a beautiful blond chick with curves to die for. And then you and your stupid self woke me up because you screamed. Now...what's wrong?"

Eliziya frowned. "I screamed?"

"Like a banshee, babe. What's wrong?"

She waved his question away. "Nothing."

"And I'm the kriffing Grand Master of the Jedi Order. Stop bullshitting me."

"Are you sure I screamed?" She didn't recall screaming. There had been screams in the dream, yes but...she swallowed and slowly sat up. Leaning against the bed, Eliziya pulled her knees to her chest. She was losing it, all her marbles spread out on the floor for the entire messed up universe to see.

"Kriff, Nikk." She whispered. "I think Kyp's in trouble."

* * *

The heart shaped island, small and insignificant atop a vast ocean of the darkest blue. The speeder settled down and Kyp and Jaina jumped out, lightsabers tightly clasped in their hands. The wind whispered between the trees, rustling their branches and making the leaves sing in an even rhythm.

Jaina made out the soft calls of birds in the distance and there was the sound of a creature swimming in the water not too far away. Still, evil was thick in these parts, a putrid stink all around them. It was hard to breathe as the darkness settled onto her chest, trying to find its way into her very being.

Jaina swallowed as she glanced aside. Kyp was holding up alright but there were beads of perspiration on his forehead. He was sweating even though it wasn't warm. On the contrary. The cold bit into her skin, icicles biting her arms with sharp teeth.

"Where to?" Jaina asked.

"Towards the light over there, I'd guess." He gestured to an area where she recognized a fire blazing in a pit. It took them only a few minutes to get there, ducking beneath heavy branches, cutting away vines with thorns as large as a finger, jumping over bushes which black little insects called their home.

When they arrived at the fire it was to find Tavia seated on a stone with her small hands bound behind her back. Her blue eyes were wide, tears trailing down her pudgy red cheeks. "Jaina! Kyp!" As the two Jedi approached, Tavia shook her blond head wildly, curls bouncing around her face. "No, don't! He's here."

Jaina stopped in her tracks. "Who is?"

"Lucan." Tavia whispered, blinking away another set of tears. "And the darkness."

Jaina frowned and took a small step forward. From the corner of her eye she saw Kyp turn around, staring at something in the distance. "What do you mean?"

"Lucan does what the darkness tells him to do." Tavia swallowed back a sob, eyes going wide as she looked at Kyp. Utterly still, her voice dropped to a hissed whisper. "_Please_. Don't." She pleaded. "They're good people. Please." She was openly crying now, sobs growing into loud wails while she shook her head. "Please, don't."

"Tavia, what's –" Jaina began but stopped when she heard Kyp's surprised shout. She spun around and for a second or two stood completely immobile as she watched a tall, thick human man jump from the shadows and grab Kyp around his throat, a curved dagger in the other hand held high.

* * *

Nikk cocked an eyebrow and tried not to fidget under Eliziya's dark stare. In their current state of near undress, he wasn't really into talking about his best friend. Or not so best friend anymore, as it was. "You had a dream about Kyp?" He asked slowly.

"No. Maybe. I don't know." Eliziya told him about the nightmares, night after night, always the same dream, always the same whispers and a laugh so dark and evil that it seemed like the dark side had become a person.

"Sounds like a vision to me." Nikk said after a while of pressing silence. Sitting opposite him leaning against her bed, Eliziya looked lovely. Not that he was going to open his big fat mouth and tell her so, of course. He'd made that mistake a while ago and where the kriff had it gotten him? To the land of kriffing confusion and he was damned sure never going back.

"I don't do visions." Eliziya all but spat in his face. Nikk waited a few seconds longer, wondering when her eyes were going to turn red and horns would sprout from her head because she was in major bitch mode all of a sudden.

Nikk groaned and stifled a yawn. It was too early in the morning to be having to deal with this sort of shit. Period. "Yeah, I get it. Miss holier-than-thou. Poor little Lizzy still too afraid to accept her heritage. You know, some people would gladly commit murder to have what you have. And instead of embracing this gift, you kick it with self pity still sticking to your itty bitty feet."

In one fluid graceful move, Eliziya was on her feet. Standing above him, Nikk lifted his head and smiled at her. "Kriff you." She said slowly.

He laughed. This was so typical Eliziya. When things got bumpy she caved in and that was that. No more talking, no more trying to help just a defiant Kriff You and she was done with the topic. Well, suited Nikk just fine. And here he'd meant to help her. What the hell had he been thinking?

"I'm going to go back to my dream now." He said, standing and stretching tired muscles until he heard a few pops running down his spine. "Try not to scream too loudly next time, okay? I am in need of my beauty sleep and I sure as hell don't need you to mess it up."

As he suspected, Eliziya followed him. Her steps were soft on the carpet in her bedroom, quiet slaps on the cold floor in the hall but she didn't enter as he stepped over the threshold to his own room. She stood with arms folded over her chest and she watched as he dropped onto his bed and grabbed a pillow.

"Do you know where he is?" She asked quietly.

Nikk ground his teeth together and flung the pillow across the room with the power of his mind. He sat up, ice blue eyes staring daggers her. "What if I did?" He played it calm but he was pissed. On the one hand she didn't want to be part of the Jedi but on the other hand it suited her just fine to use her friendship with him to get intel on the Jedi whenever she needed it? Well, kriff that.

"Where is he, Nikk?"

He was on his feet in an instant, jabbing a finger into her face. "To hell with you."

"Nikk -"

"Seriously? Despite the look on my face, you're still talking?" He pointed to the door, the way he imagined a father might do when he was bitching at his kids. "Get the hell out of here, Liz."

She reached out and touched his arm. Her fingers were warm, her touch soft and he knew it was his goddamned undoing.

* * *

He lost his grip on his lightsaber. The silver black weapon spun through the air in a high arc and landed with a soft thump several feet away. Kyp hadn't seen the attack coming. He'd felt a shift in the Force, a presence snaking through the shadows, an unnatural being. And then the bald man had come flying towards him with a battle cry on his lips.

He was heavy, a freight transport dragging Kyp down. The wind knocked from his lungs, his head hit the ground and he suddenly saw stars in the corner of his eyes. For a long second it felt like he was about to black out. A sweaty hand lay around his throat and squeezed until all Kyp could do was wheeze through gritted teeth. But he got it together, summoned his strength and jerked up his leg. The man grunted as Kyp's knee made one hell of a greeting with his groin. He shoved the bastard off as his grip slackened and then he was on his feet.

Just not quick enough. Whoever this man was, he was damned fast. And he didn't look it, not one bit. Thick around the middle, walking with a slight limp and wearing clothes that rather befitted a scholar, Kyp was reminded never to judge appearances. It was then that he saw the dagger in the man's hand. It was a beautifully crafted weapon, the tip sloped inward with a red jewel attached to the golden hilt, reflecting the fire crackling in the pit. He knew it would hurt like hell if that blade came anywhere near his skin.

In the few seconds it took for these thoughts to pass through Kyp's mind, the man had advanced again. He ran, leaving deep footprints in the moist soil. The dagger held high above his head, he slashed once, twice, a third time. Kyp jumped aside, ducked, pivoted around and landed a high kick against the man's back.

"You cannot win this, Jedi." The man called out with a laugh, slowly turning to face the Jedi Master. His voice was soft and low, so unlike what Kyp would have expected.

"Lucan, please stop!" Tavia wailed from where she stood gripping Jaina's arm. She'd freed the girl from the binds and knew that involving herself in this fight with Lucan would get her nowhere. Not only would she most likely get in the way but Kyp wouldn't appreciate the help in the slightest.

"Jaina, get Tavia out of here!" He yelled. "Now!"

He sensed her hesitation. She didn't want to leave him, not in his current state. And he couldn't blame her. It was getting harder by the second to keep the darkness away, evil trying to get him to submit, like a child yearning for sweets.

"Go, Jaina!" He called again. "I'll be alright."

Kyp saw his lightsaber laying snuggly atop a mound of dirt. He summoned the Force, reached out for his weapon –

And realized that the Force was gone, as if someone or something had snapped its fingers and made the fabric of the universe disappear. Which was just kriffing impossible.

"The prophesy…you cannot change it." Lucan said. Kyp swallowed a vile curse as he prodded with his senses, a sudden cold fear running along his spine. He saw Jaina running back the way they'd come with Tavia gripping her hand. As Kyp met the girls' blue eyes, he saw more than just fear. He saw absolute terror.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kyp ground out, focusing back on his opponent.

Lucan came at him again. Kyp blocked the strike with his arm and pushed forward with all the strength he had, trying to avoid that damned blade. Hand tightened into a fist, Kyp punched repeatedly – abdomen, chest, abdomen, face but it didn't seem to bother Lucan one bit.

"Who are you?" Kyp breathed, stunned as he stumbled back. He was pissed off that Lucan had yet to show any sign of weakness and even more pissed off that he couldn't tap into the Force to quickly put an end to this needless fight. They'd gotten the girl. That was all they'd come for. No one else needed to get hurt.

"It is not I you must worry about."

There was laughter in the air around him, a sound so frightening that Kyp felt the hairs on his body stand on end. It grew louder until it was the only thing he could hear. The sound was like a parasite finding its way into his head until all he could hear was a whispered hiss, a deadly serpent in his mind.

A sudden sharp pain brought him to his knees. Palms pressed up against his temples, Kyp screamed to the sky, wishing, hoping, _praying_ for it all to end. His body was on fire, as if his skin was melting off his bones, like salt poured into several open wounds all at once. He'd been through a lot in his life but never had he endured a pain so fierce, so sharp and so unforgiving such as this.

Lucan stood in front of him, the dagger held firmly in his hand. Kyp breathed heavily, biting down hard on his teeth and refusing to accept defeat so easily. This was not the way he was going to die. Not here on this Force forsaken hole of a planet, not alone and certainly not at the hands of this mad man who looked like a preschool teacher. Kyp stood up on shaky legs and dropped his hands to his sides. His vision swam, he felt nauseous and the cold laughter on the wind was still ringing in his ears.

Lucan struck. The curved blade with its ruby red gem found its way deep into Kyp's shoulder, buried to the hilt. Kyp stumbled back with a barely contained cry. He gripped the weapon with one hand and, holding his breath, ripped it free along with a gush of crimson blood that ran down his tunic towards his boots and left little clots in the dirt around his feet.

The laughter on the wind, the sound in his head, subsided.

The dagger slipped from his hand and with his last bit of strength, Kyp charged forward. He punched the son of a bitch in the face, hoping to hear a crack but Lucan merely stood there, smiling.

"Who the kriff are you?" Kyp spat, pressing one hand against the wound in his shoulder where blood seeped between his fingers.

_I am you. _

Kyp spun around as the whispered words penetrated his defenses, coming at him from everywhere at once. "Who's there?"

The answer was a knock to the head by an invisible force. Kyp flew through the air as if he were a doll, arms and legs flailing until he hit the ground again. This time it was hard to breathe and he was certain that somewhere in his body he'd felt a bone snap.

A shadow upon him now, the unnatural darkness he'd felt the moment he'd set foot on the planet, evil incarnate. It engulfed him until there was no more air to breathe, a cocoon hugging the living hell out of him. Fire on his skin, digging into his pores, boiling his blood; it was unbearable. He screamed until his throat was raw.

And then it was suddenly over.

_Everything_ was over.

Because the shadow, the evil, hiding within the darkness took his place.


End file.
